We have video~ well, not high quality but we have it!

Oh how I couldn't wait to try this! First of all, my new phone has a video option. And then Daren is like the super star that acted perfectly like he knew what I was saying & even talked back (even though he hasn't said his first word yet)!

Olivia's choir concert is tonight so I'll post more later.
I just wanted to see if I could get the video to work!

We are blessed!

Last post I said bye bye warm weather. God proved me wrong - I also said if we get any more warm days we are blessed - well November has been perfectly beautiful for a fall month!!! No complaints here! The kids have been venturing out every late afternoon to welcome Owen off the bus then play outside until we make them come in!

The big news of our past couple weeks... DAREN IS TURNING 1! What better way to have a party than have a multitude of special people to celebrate with... Below are all the special birthday kids in our life within a week of each other of course. Tim's godchildren, Kaylee & Grant. Daren concludes the week with his special day - which is tomorrow!!!

Sincerely thank you to all who made our baby's 1st birthday party so special!

A good time was had by all even though we had a couple of flying friends trying to crash the party.

This isn't a great quality picture but too cute not to share. Here are a couple of future BFF's. :)

11 mo. - Daren & Ezra - 1 yr, 2mo

Cousins

And then to secure a post for the near future - and since our lives aren't completely consumed by Daren... Olivia said something about a solo, a concert & 105 kids in the 6th grade choir... I am not going to miss this one!!! I'll tell ya all about it! What is more exciting than seeing a child be so excited they can barely talk about it?!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!! Count all the things you are truly thankful for & share what you can!!!

Bye Bye Beautiful weather

Oh what a weekend! It was SO nice - I hate winter so much. (OK, besides ice skating there is nothing good about it.) We were so busy Saturday my body still hurts. Tim was even taking Advil after hauling about 8 loads of manure out of the pasture. It was SO cute watching Gloria proudly going back & forth with Tim on the tractor between the stinky pile & field to unload the rich compost. Yuck! We got plenty of apples picked; leaves raked into piles & then wildly spread out again - mostly by Owen & Sylvia. I moved a shrub to a new location - I'm interested to see if it survives - this isn't always a successful thing for me - still not much of a natural green thumb. :s Most of the time I was trying to salvage this wonderful flower garden we inherited with the property. We'll see what grows next year. Its amazing how the kids want to help when you bring out the big trimming equipment. Then again on such a beautiful fall day it can't all be work, work, work...

OK, I am cheating here a little but this is one of the pictures I caught of Daren when enjoying the gorgeous weather on Saturday. We did snap a perfect-to-be-his-1-year picture but you'll have to wait for your Christmas card to see it.

Did I mention that it was really, really nice this weekend?! (Oh, I am going to miss it & really feel spoiled if I pray enough for 1 more weekend like that and actually get one!)

Life goes on I know!

Below is an unedited picture of Sylvia during her photo shoot last week for her 4 year snapshot. She had fun with it, and her sisters were pretty agitated that they weren't getting their pictures taken. The "final cut" will be in your Christmas card too.

And I can't believe it has been about 10 months since we have taken a picture with our entire family in it (yep, all 7 of us). We received a gingerbread cookie/Halloween house kit from a dear neighbor. We had a GREAT family night last week in working on this (when it was fairy chilly & dark by 5 - great reasons to stay inside). I am starting to get pretty excited for taking a family picture for our Christmas card. No animals this year - Tim says anything would be better than the overalls & pitchfork idea I have for including every living being we can get to be in front of a camera for a picture. You'll just have to wait & see.

We've been trying to instill in Sylvia already that Jesus' birthday is why we celebrate Christmas Day. It is quite funny. She knows Jesus and Christmas, but you can just read her face - "they're really connected - are you sure?!" Too funny!

Halloween Picture

This is kind of a follow up. I had to post a picture from Sylvia's birthday party since she is still talking about it. I can't believe how grown up a 4 year old can look!!! They do grow up too fast!

You all requested it...

No that isn't our kids - it is Winnie the Pooh, the Mighty Red Power Ranger, Hannah Montana, Lil' Pumpkin & Oliver the boy (a.k.a. Tim at age 12).

Ok, whirlwind of what's been going on in our home...

(I don't even think I can slow my thoughts down enough to put them out here.)

Time change - check

Cupboard full of candy - check

Daren's bday next - check

Mom's first day of JO volleyball - check

Super cleaning (even moved furniture) in kids' bedrooms - check *This was manditory before dressing up for Halloween. Worked well! :)

I am sure there is plenty I forgot, but trust me it's getting done.

Anyways~

This is about how I felt after the month of October. Apparently Daren was just as wore out as I am! Yep, he fell asleep sitting up - well at least leaning on the bars of his crib.

My sister Stacey email this picture to us siblings this past week. I can't even put words to it - NOTHING COULD BE MORE FITTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! November 7th will be the 2 year anniversary of my dad's passing away. This picture was taken in about 1989. We all know he is looking down on us just like in the picture. It's like a little reminder/gift from God. (Sylvia is still convinced it is her in the picture & not Stacey. Too funny!)

Don't forget to count your blessings each day!

Speaking of counting blessings...
Daren turned 11 months last Sunday. On Monday he was officially crawling (4 days off on my last blog's estimate). First birthday here we come! He has no interest in standing alone or walking. (Yep, you probably can hear my cheering from where ever you may be!)

Technical Difficulties

I had such a nice post all ready to go & the stupid website - whatever wouldn't let me publish the post & now I am too tired to care. I'll try again tomorrow - if I find time!